Orpheus' Cry
by Shun'u
Summary: [Chp. 1] “Do you think that Hell is all that people have written it to be? ...a raging inferno, like the Italians describe it? Or will it be a dark pit ruled by a lonely god, like in Greek myth? ...What is your Hell like?” || Mudou Setsuna ||
1. Savior of the Damned

Title:

Orpheus' Cry

Author:

Shun'u

Series:

Angel Sanctuary: Tenshi Kinryouku

Genre:

Alternate Universe

Rating:

R - due to religious and controversial subject matter in original series by Yuki Kaori

Disclaimer:

Angel Sanctuary and its characters are all the creation of and (c) to the talented Yuki Kaori. I claim ownership of none of them. "Orpheus' Cry" is a fanfiction (c) Hanashiro, Shun'u, 2001.

Spoiler Note:

Not really necessary to know the entire series to read this fanfic because it's alternate universe anyhow. However, I've used a mix of the OVA and the manga, so you might find bits confusing if you don't know that it is _not_ Katan who deals the deathblow to Sara in the manga.

November 2001 

**----{----{--****@**

**O R P H E U S' • C R Y**

**An Angel Sanctuary Fanfiction**

By Hanashiro, Shun'u

**----{----{--****@**

**Prologue: Savior of the Damned**

_Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned._

"Why? Why did you do it?"

_I failed in my sworn duty to the one who raised me from life as a lowly Grigore. I betrayed him by stopping him._

"Do you not love me most, Katan?"

_I love him. I love him because he is my salvation._

"Am I not most beautiful?"

_I love him because he is beautiful._

"Am I not deserving of your love?"

_I love him because he deserves love._

"I'm sorry, Katan. I have hurt you when you only did what you felt was best for me."

_My love is not enough for one who holds God's greatest love._

"But you understand, don't you?"

_He has everyone's love and adoration._

"I can't let anyone get between me and Oneesama."

_But hers..._

[End Prologue]

**----{----{--****@**


	2. The Happiest Sinners in the World

Title:Orpheus' Cry 

Author:Shun'u 

Series:Angel Sanctuary: Tenshi Kinryouku 

Genre:Alternate Universe 

Rating:R - due to religious and controversial subject matter in original series by Yuki Kaori 

**Disclaimer:** Angel Sanctuary and its characters are all the creation of and (c) to the talented **Yuki Kaori**. I claim ownership of none of them. "Orpheus' Cry" is a fanfiction (c) Hanashiro, Shun'u, 2001. 

**Spoiler Note:** Not really necessary to know the entire series to read this fanfic because it's alternate universe anyhow. However, I've used a mix of the OVA and the manga, so you might find bits confusing if you don't know that it is not Katan who deals the deathblow to Sara in the manga. 

**November 2001 **

**----{----{--@**

O R P H E U S' • C R Y

An Angel Sanctuary Fanfiction

By Hanashiro, Shun'u 

**----{----{--@**

Part 1: The Happiest Sinners in the World 

No matter how much he rubbed them raw, his hands would always be stained crimson. Horror washed over him in fresh waves of self-loathing. He fully believed that the image of Sara as he had last seen her would haunt him for eternity. As if to mock that despair, the landscape within which he was trapped was suffused in the brick red of blood. Even the floating islands were of the same color. 

Darkness inexorably pressed down on his consciousness, driving into him a bitter truth: devotion and sacrifice had yielded nothing but death. Regret burned his throat. He had committed crimes in the name of his master only to be punished for his foolish, blind loyalty. God might have loved Rosiel above all others, but he certainly didn't give a rat's ass about Rosiel's lackeys. 

Rosiel's lackey... 

Was that was all he had ever been? Had he meant so little to his master? 

He didn't care to have such clarity of vision after the sins he had already been committed. It was a little too late for understanding to help him solve his moral dilemma. Those he had destroyed were already well on their way to judgment. And he was wholly responsible for their deaths, however inadvertently. Now an innocent girl was dead along with all of Tokyo, and the Organic Angel Alexiel might well have awakening from her centuries old slumber. 

If he could have, he would have done all that was in his power to turn back the hands of time and change his actions. He would have tried harder in reasoning with Rosiel. He would have reached Kirie before she set out to kill Setsuna under the foolish illusion of winning Rosiel's love - only to end up killing Sara as she took the blow meant for Setsuna. Katan's crime was not of murdering her, but of not preventing the injustice from ever happening. He had allowed Rosiel's honeyed words to cloud his judgment. 

Katan heaved a weary sigh. He knew all too well that reasoning with Rosiel about Alexiel was a lost cause. The Inorganic Angel had perfected denial into an art form. In his narcissism, Rosiel believed that all creatures had to love him. The mere suggestion of someone not doing so made Rosiel insane; he was simply incapable of grasping such an alien concept. Katan could not blame him for this. In truth, he didn't understand himself. What creature could be more deserving of love than Rosiel, the angel who was God's most beloved? 

Mudou Sara, that was who. 

Setsuna's obsession with Sara rivaled that of Rosiel for his twin, Alexiel. Was that why they had only been able to find Alexiel's soul in this incarnation, millennia after Alexiel had been physically encased in crystal and cursed to have her spirit reborn in a human body to die a tragic death each lifetime? Was it because Setsuna's life was so similar to Rosiel's, or was it because they were dissimilar? Where Alexiel had rejected Rosiel, Setsuna's love for Sara was reciprocated in full. Was that the catalyst that had triggered Setsuna's power, Alexiel's power, to emerge at last? 

Katan flinched when a wave of pain hit him from his injuries gained from interfering with Kirie's plans. He had come to save her, only to be too late. Setsuna's latent powers had manifested in an incredible degree. Even if he had seen the blast of pure energy coming, Katan doubted that he could have avoided such a powerful attack. And that was coming from a boy still unaware and untrained. Katan didn't want to be the one to face Setsuna once he came into his full powers. 

For the sake of Rosiel's sanity, he hoped that Setsuna would give in and allow Alexiel to be awakened. Only by confronting his twin would Rosiel be appeased. For there was one truth that Rosiel clung to: either Alexiel would love him, or he would destroy her. But for now, nothing could be done. He could only wait for his master's return and hope that he had been successful against Setsuna. For a mere human, the boy proved to be surprisingly steadfast against them. 

**----{----{--@**

Blue skies. White clouds. Destruction for as far as the eye could see. 

Nothing and everything had changed. Tokyo had been destroyed and his love lay dead at his feet with a gaping hole where her heart had once been encased in tender flesh and bone. The human body was supposed to be more resilient, wasn't it? He didn't understand. How could it be that he would survive sixteen years with nary a scratch, and yet she died so easily? 

_Life was unfair._

Beneath the sun's steady warmth he understood. 

_How cruel._

Selfish hands had ripped his single tie to the mortal world away from him. 

_What have I done to deserve this cold fate?_

Everything came into sharp focus. The moment boiled down to one indisputable fact. 

_Why her? Why someone so innocent?_

Rosiel had taken away his only reason for living. 

_Because he wants Alexiel, he takes Sara away from me._

Little did it matter that Rosiel hadn't dealt the deathblow. 

_Sara is dead._

All that mattered was that Rosiel had been the cause. 

_I never understood how terrible hatred could be until now._

Setsuna was beyond grief and rage. 

Their love had been so infinitely precious. _His Sara._ So brief and bittersweet, and all the more treasured for those selfsame reasons. Despite everyone else's recriminations, despite their mother's determination to separate them, they had found each other. Through it all, he and Sara had found love. They had been the happiest sinners in the world in their too few days together as man and wife. 

_A lifetime was not enough. We were supposed to have eternity to discover each other._

Hard concrete bit through coarse denim into his knees. Setsuna was insensate. He just wanted to be close to Sara one last time. Just one more time... before he would give up his meaningless life. Then he would go to hell to search for her. 

_Sara, I'll find you. Just a little longer, sweetheart. I'm coming for you._

_If they wouldn't let us live together in life, then we will be together in death. Or so help me God, I will tear down Heaven and Hell, and nothing will be left when I'm done._

**----{----{--@**

Kira Sakuya alternated his gaze between Setsuna and the celestial sword in his borrowed human hands. Smooth crystal burned palms that would have been unfamiliar with wielding weapons had a different path been taken. Beyond him, Kurai and Arachne were solemn. For once neither spoke out of turn. The demons' uncharacteristic seriousness only served to drive home the gravity of their situation. 

Where had his words of comfort gone? Why did they fail him now when Setsuna needed him most? In all the years that he had protected Alexiel's incarnations on earth, in none did he ever fail his duty. He refused to now. If Setsuna wanted to follow Sara into death, then he would get his wish. If Kira couldn't bring Sara back, then he would give Setsuna the opportunity to do so or die trying. Nanatsusaya never failed his mistress; Kira never failed his friends. 

Setsuna was waiting for him. 

**----{----{--@**

A light, androgynous voice said his name in the darkness. Repeatedly he was called. Compelled. Seduction fogged his mind, slowed his thinking. Was this how he had fallen under Rosiel's spell so long ago? Katan tried in vain to fight against it. He didn't want to wake. He deserved to die. 

"Naughty boy." 

A booted foot came down hard on his injury, causing Katan to hiss in pain. He wanted to roll away from Rosiel but couldn't even conjure that small bit of energy. Instead he bit his lip and swallowed his scream. The heel of Rosiel's boot ground deeper into his shoulder until Katan could no longer feel pain. Only numbness. 

"Does it hurt?" 

"Rosiel-sama..." Katan stared blindly into the bloody place between the fabric of space and time. Already he could feel Rosiel's pull on him. The bond formed when Rosiel named him, and gave his life meaning, was still strong despite recent revelations into Rosiel's selfish nature. 

Rosiel raised the switch that he had been tapping on his right shoulder. Katan wasn't given time to do more than widen his eyes as the switch came down with a snap and bit into him from shoulder to chest. Blood spurted from the new wound and Katan felt more bubble through his throat, as his injured lung could hold no more within its collapsing shell. Rosiel remained cool and untouched. A small smile adorned his effeminate features, his physical beauty emphasizing all too clearly his cruel actions. 

"Why did you interfere? Why did you save Kirie?" 

Katan had no answer. 

"Do you hurt, Katan?" When Katan remained stoic, Rosiel said, "So, I see now. You want to die, do you not? But... you cannot die so easily, Katan." 

Rosiel's hand came up and a white feather shone brightly against crimson. A halo of celestial light brightened the feather's natural color until it lit up the sky and cast a glow on Rosiel. Slowly the feather dropped and, as it fell, the feather transformed into a pill that Katan was all too familiar with. It was the same pill that Rosiel had fed Kato in order to make him a mindless tool. A hitch in his breath was the only indication of Katan's misgivings. Rosiel lowered himself to straddle the fallen man. 

"Rosiel-sama..." 

Slim, deceptively fragile hands that hid a terrible strength in them raised him into an upright position. Arms wrapped about him in a twisted parody of a hug. Pain skittered across Katan's ivory fair face. Something cold and wet slid over his cheeks, slipped past closed lips and down his throat. Rosiel trailed his fingers along the wet jagged path they made until his fingers just touched Katan's lips. 

"Open your mouth, Katan." 

He couldn't help it. Laughing hurt more than anything, but Katan could do nothing to stop the chuckle from rumbling through his pain-filled chest. Ages of selfless loyalty, and now he was brought to this impasse. Where Rosiel demanded not only his loyalty and service, but his soul as well. To swallow that pill would be no different than to give up his life. 

"You want to kill me, don't you, Rosiel-sama..." 

"What are you saying, Katan!" Rosiel was honestly shocked. "This won't hurt you." 

Endless tears stung his eyes. Vision blurred until all he could see of Rosiel was glossy hair cascading in a silver rippled waterfall. Katan relied on that blur to guide his hands as they came up to frame Rosiel's hovering face. 

"So you want to make me into a doll. Was that all it ever was, that loyalty that the lower angels showed as they followed you? They were all your robots...!" Katan gasped as another wave of pain pulled him further into unconsciousness. He had to fight to get his words out. "You would kill me with that pill. You would truly be alone then. Wouldn't that be lonely, Rosiel-sama?" 

The silver haired angel continued to press his poison towards Katan although this time there was hesitancy in his movements. 

"Don't!" Katan pled. 

Rosiel searched Katan's face. "Katan, you are the only thing of beauty... to have come out of me, God's forsaken. You cannot die." Rosiel whispered, "I won't allow you to desert me, Katan." 

Katan felt Rosiel trace his lips. Then he felt something small, cold and smooth slip past them. Instinct had him clamping his lips to prevent the foreign object from entering. Desperately seeking, Katan looked up into Rosiel's limpid eyes, only to find in them a slight glistening of madness. 

**----{----{--@**

"Do you think that Hell is all that people have written it to be?" 

Kira glanced sharply at his charge. Setsuna still knelt by Sara's side, but now he was no longer crying. Cold. He was so cold just then, as if carved of ice. Kira wasn't used to seeing the temperamental Setsuna without a trace of emotion on his youthful visage. 

He cautiously replied, "How do you mean?" 

"I mean, do you think that Hell will be a raging inferno, like the Italians describe it? Or will it be a dark pit ruled by a lonely god, like in Greek myth? Does Enma-daiou sit on a throne to pass judgment on spirits passing through the gates of the spiritual realm?" Setsuna locked gazes with the upperclassman. "What is your Hell like?" 

Kira involuntarily stiffened. _Does he know? No! Don't be ridiculous. None of them know. None of them realize that they weren't the first angels to walk the world._ He fixed a carefully blank expression on his face. 

"It's cold," he said softly. "So cold that you cannot feel anything. Your arm could be cut off and you wouldn't be the wiser until you looked down to see it missing. It's so cold in Hell that your emotions cannot form long enough to be remembered." 

"Do you think that Sara was sent to Hell?" 

"No," Kira had to clear the sudden lump in his throat. Through Setsuna, Sara had been his little sister as well. "No, I don't think that she would be sent to Hell." 

A sad smile graced Setsuna's otherwise solemn face. "Then she's in Heaven. Maybe I shouldn't take her from there. Maybe she'll find happiness there." 

"Setsuna," Kira felt compelled to say, "that would be the worst thing in the world for you to do. You have to go to her." After a pause he added, "The only place colder than Hell, is Heaven." 

Setsuna nodded. Kira didn't know how much Setsuna understood of what he was revealing, whether the young man knew that Kira had spoken the honest truth and not in riddles. 

_Sara belongs in neither place, Setsuna; she belongs with you._

"I feel dead already, Kira." Setsuna touched Sara's glorious golden-brown hair. "It wouldn't be much of a difference if my body were to die as well." 

Kira rose with his sword in hand. He knew what Setsuna's request would be and he didn't feel any trepidation in granting it although it meant the death of yet another incarnation. Life since he had become Kira Sakuya had wrought many changes in him, not the least of which was humanity. 

**----{----{--@**

Kurai couldn't stand still to watch the bloody tragedy anymore. She stormed past Arachne and right up to Setsuna. Or as close as she could get before she faltered under the unashamed pain in Setsuna's expressive eyes. The force of his presence was difficult to face and it didn't take long before Kurai looked away. 

"Setsuna," she muttered gruffly. "You're really going through with this?" 

She waited for a small eternity before caving in to her impatience and looking back. Setsuna was still looking at her with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Kurai wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be all right, that he still had his friends and parents, and that Sara would be waiting for him in Heaven. She didn't say anything because all of those would be lies. Everything wasn't all right; his only true friend was Kira, who wasn't even human, and his parents were estranged too long to be of any comfort; and Heaven was just as cruel as Kira had described it and Sara wouldn't be happy up there without Setsuna. 

"You're an idiot, Mudou Setsuna." A strong hand came to rest on Kurai's narrow shoulder. She leaned back into it until Arachne got the message and both arms came around Kurai to hug her from behind. Maybe it had been she who needed the hug and not Setsuna. Arachne gave her a squeeze. Finally she said, "You're going to bring Sara back, right?" 

And Setsuna gave her that rare, sweet, beautiful smile that he was capable of. 

"Of course. Sara made a promise to spend the rest of her life with me. I'm not gonna let her give up this early." 

"Setsuna..." 

"Kira-sempai," Setsuna's voice had lost its lost quality. Determination gave him strength and he stood tall. "Please, help me find Sara." 

**----{----{--@**

Kira reflected much later that he had not even asked Setsuna what he wanted done with their bodies if they were not to return. He assumed that Setsuna wouldn't stand on ceremony and didn't care for making a fuss. Cremation seemed like the kind of thing that Setsuna and Sara would have wanted done. Then their ashes could be scattered together to the winds. But until the day when he was sure that another incarnation of Alexiel was dead, he would not give up hope for his dearest friends. He would keep Setsuna and Sara's bodies in safekeeping and wait for them to return to life. Looking at their bodies, he somehow felt hope that this would come to pass. Although technically they were both dead, neither of their physical bodies decayed. Both had cooled, but it was as though they were held in suspension, awaiting the return of their respective souls. 

**----{----{--@**

His head hurt. Why did his head hurt? 

Katan grabbed it in both hands and squeezed. His brain felt like it was swelling and trying to escape its bony, too small prison. Katan cried out loud and ground his teeth together until his jaw hurt almost as much as his skull. Why couldn't he remember what had happened? 

Why was he in so much pain? 

[End Part 1: The Happiest Sinners in the World] 

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Author's Notes: MS Word hates my sentence fragments. ^_^ I happen to like 'em. Hmm... not quite sure of the direction of this story yet. As you can tell, it's completely A/U.


End file.
